Tiebreakers.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what LeBron James is playing for. Tiebreakers for the undecided voters still trying to figure out how to measure his campaign against Michael Jordan\u2019s.<\/p>\n
The hardened Jordan loyalists will never waver, just as the hardened LeBron loyalists will never budge. Whatever happens in Philadelphia over the next one, two or three years won\u2019t compel them to jump from one side to the other.<\/p>\n
But there are a lot of independents out there, including yours truly, who have watched both careers and still bounce back and forth between Jordan, six-time champ with the Chicago Bulls, and James in a sports bar debate that will never truly be settled. And that\u2019s the beauty of the whole thing. Ranking titanic figures from different eras might be a fruitless and silly exercise to some, but this type of debate is also the one thing sports is supposed to be.<\/p>\n
Fun.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the case of Jordan v. James sure seems to be serious business to the 41-year-old billionaire who just agreed to a pay cut of nearly $49 million to help the Philadelphia 76ers try to win their first championship since 1983 and, of larger long-term consequence, to enhance his case as the greatest of the great.<\/p>\n
How do we know this? James has said a number of times over the years his goal is to go down as the GOAT, and he has said multiple times he believes he has already earned that distinction. In fact, James apparently believes he scaled that mountain in the 2016 NBA Finals \u2014 a decade ago \u2014 when he made history by leading the Cleveland Cavaliers out of a 3-1 series hole to beat the 73-win Golden State Warriors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat one right there made me the greatest player of all time,\u201d James said in a 2018 episode of the \u201cMore Than An Athlete\u201d series.<\/p>\n
He got ahead of himself there, no question, and probably knows it. Eight years later, James still has work to do.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why he announced last week that after 23 NBA seasons, including eight with the Los Angeles Lakers, he still loves the game enough to continue on. He said his Sixers signing had nothing to do with family or (clearly) money. He said he wanted to win again.<\/p>\n
Left unsaid was how perfect his Philly pivot was in his own grand scheme of things.<\/p>\n
What signing with the Sixers reveals about LeBron’s mindset<\/p>\n
Esfandiar Baraheni<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not surprising that such a high-IQ player made such a high-IQ move to close his career. The New York Knicks took themselves out of play by winning their first title since 1973, forcing James off his first choice (according to his agent and longtime friend Rich Paul) and leaving him searching for the next best option among Cleveland, Miami, Golden State, Minnesota and Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
Out of Akron, Ohio, James had already ended a biblical drought for his hometown Cavaliers and had won two of his four titles with the Heat. He had to escape the West and get away from San Antonio and Oklahoma City, and he needed a legit contender that offered the kind of maximum legacy impact the Knicks would\u2019ve offered had they failed to win it all.<\/p>\n
The Sixers were selling a 43-year drought and Jaylen Brown as part of a loaded roster in a sports-crazed city just south of New York. If James is almost certainly not going to match Jordan\u2019s six rings, Philly represented a perfect opportunity for LJ to challenge MJ with his fifth.<\/p>\n
Championship rings are not used as a measuring stick only by overcaffeinated fans and simpleminded columnists and talk-show hosts. In his final days as a New York Yankee, Derek Jeter said his friend Jordan \u201cconstantly reminds me that he has six and I have five.\u201d The shortstop said years earlier his only goal was to beat Yogi Berra\u2019s record for championships; Berra later teased Jeter about his 10-5 lead in World Series rings.<\/p>\n
Immediately after Kobe Bryant won his fifth title with the Lakers, he famously said of his former teammate, \u201cJust got one more than Shaq. So you can take that to the bank.\u201d When Jordan was once asked by a summer camper to pick between James and Bryant, he replied, \u201cWould I rank LeBron over Kobe? In terms of best of all time? No. There\u2019s something about five that beats three.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a good thing for Jordan that Bill Russell isn\u2019t often mentioned in GOAT conversations, because there\u2019s something about 11 that beats six. So, even in the team sport that allows the individual superstar the most control over his or her fate (with only five players on the court), it can\u2019t come down only to ring counts.<\/p>\n
Yes, Jordan has a 6-4 lead over James in titles, a 6-4 lead in Finals MVPs and a 5-4 lead in regular-season MVPs. (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar owns a record six regular-season MVPs and merits a more prominent place in the discussion.) But having played eight more seasons than Jordan did, James blows him away on all longevity fronts as the league\u2019s most prolific winner (a record 1,236 combined regular-season and postseason victories to Jordan\u2019s 825) and scorer (a record 51,961 combined regular-season and postseason points to Jordan\u2019s 38,279).<\/p>\n
When measured against the modern perimeter icons who preceded him, James beats Jordan and Bryant on points scored, Magic Johnson on assists dished and Larry Bird on titles won.<\/p>\n
Durability matters. So does one\u2019s overall body of work.<\/p>\n
In LeBron\u2019s second-favorite sport, golf, I had Jack Nicklaus and his record 18 major titles ranked ahead of Tiger Woods and his 14 majors around the time Woods was telling people that he was done, that his injured back was too far gone. And then somehow Tiger emerged from a spinal fusion surgery to win the 2018 Tour Championship, the 2019 Masters and the Zozo Championship in Japan to tie Sam Snead\u2019s record of 82 PGA Tour victories, nine more than Nicklaus\u2019 total. That was enough, in my mind, to push Woods ahead of the Golden Bear despite the 18-15 majors deficit. Tiger was more dominant at his peak against deeper fields.<\/p>\n